Darastrix A story about Dragons
by DM Shaggoth
Summary: A story about a group of adventurers who are soon to be famous dragonhunters, but over time, they start to understand the creatures better and better. MA
1. Foreword

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Foreword**

Darastrix is a Draconic word. It is a word that sounds very powerful, and it's the oldest word there is in this language. It means Dragon.

Dragons have always been loathed, despised, loved, revered, hated, and very often misunderstood. The general Dragon does not exist. Every dragon is different from the other in many ways, as these intelligent creatures are all different individuals.

The Chromatic Dragons are most often misunderstood. Though most of them are evil, without a care in the world about other humanoids, not all are. But through experience with Dragons, fear often finds a way into the minds of people, and great stories about Dragon slayers and the mighty evil Dragons that once existed feed this fear, along with a rage, hatred. Most humanoids would love for all Dragons to be exterminated.

Adventurers often set out to kill such a mighty creature, to get its treasures, to relieve the world from them. What they do not understand, however, is the point of view for a Dragon in this. In general, a Dragon doesn't know what he's doing is evil; it just seems the natural order of things. They are the top of the food chain, and everything below them is their slave or meal. Furthermore, many dragons have been killed over the wrong reasons. They are often tricked by other Dragons; adventurers would finish the Dragon off, allowing the second Dragon to claim the territory. Also, the Dragon's hoard is often a reason for adventurers to kill these mighty creatures. This is, objectively, of course just as bad as killing another humanoid for its treasure, but these intelligent mystics are not viewed as sentinel beings, but rather as monsters who can talk.

All sentient being sin, and so have I. Over the years, I've come to respect the creatures everyone is so eager to kill. For we have sinned against these mighty creatures. I shall tell you about our adventures in the greatest detail I can. May everyone who reads this book come to respect these mighty creatures some more, and maybe we'll understand them one day.


	2. Chapter I: The Guild

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter I: The Guild**

Every adventure has got to start somewhere, and so my story starts at the Guild. At the time I lived in a small city named Ravensburg. In this city, there had always been merchants, rich men, and common folk who had needed the help of others, and to ease this process, the Adventurer's Guild, or just Guild, was founded. Here the people came and hired adventurers to do dangerous jobs for them. The adventurers give a small fee to the Guild, and keep the rest, slowly building a reputation, and slowly working their way up the Guild ladder. The Guildmaster was the adventurer who had done the most adventures, if he was willing to take the position.

I had lived in the city for one year by then, and I had registered at the Guild as an apprentice Wizard. I had only done minor jobs by then. To my frustration, most of these jobs were entertaining jobs at parties and such; it didn't pay all that well (just enough to keep the landlord from kicking me out), and it was monotonous and not really challenging.

Two weeks before everything started, the Guildmaster died, and a new Guildmaster had to be chosen. Several adventurers challenged each other, and eventually an old Elf named Area Cali took over as Guildmaster. As soon as she took the job, she changed several things. The adventurers would be assigned into teams to increase efficiency. The teams would be four to six big, and every team would be a mixture of different specialities. The rogues and fighters amongst the ranks thought it was madness, claiming to work better alone, but as one of the Wizards I could say I truly welcomed the new rules; a lone Wizard is not as much of a threat to anything as he will be when he has a warrior next to him who could take a few punches.

Two weeks passed, and the teams were finally decided. Everyone was to come to a gathering where the teams would meet and new assignments would be given. I got ready as I always did. I didn't have much I had to bring with me; clothing, some essentials like rations and a bedroll and such, my spellbook and finally my wand.

Many of the adventurers had left the Guild after the recent changes, so there were only about six groups left when assignments were given. First, I was given a scroll. On it were details on the other members of my team. Our team was called Darastrix. I found the scroll again. It said the following:

_Team Leader: Bardryn; Dwarf, Female; Divine warrior of Bahamut_

_Team Guardian: Asteron; Minotaur, Male; Experienced Gladiator_

_Team Wizard: Ghrak; Kobold, Male; Scholar of the Arcane_

_Team Covert: Maragh; Kobold, Male; Apprentice Assassin_

_Team Backup: Surina; Dragonborn, Female; Monster Hunter_

The first thing I noticed was the other Kobold. There weren't many Kobolds in Ravensburg, and I didn't mind that very much. In general, the other Kobolds were stealing, killing, brutal scoundrels that gave our race a bad name. The fact that he was our Covert, and an assassin to top that, didn't suit me, but I would give him a chance.

The Minotaur was also something that drew my attention. If there were little Kobolds, there were even less Minotaurs. I had, in fact, never seen one in Ravensburg. These creatures are often misunderstood. Minotaurs have a short fuse, but they are very civil, kind and even compassionate if you treat them with the respect they deserve.

Soon after receiving the scroll, I was approached by one of he Guild's errant boys. He led me to a small room. In it was a table that was just a bit too big to actually fit the room. Around the table were several chairs. There was magical lightning in the room, and at the table sat Darastrix.

The Minotaur sat very uncomfortably, its belly squashed between the table and the chair, which was burying itself in the wall. The Dragonborn was also quite uncomfortable it seemed. I felt tiny in comparison to these two gigantic creatures. This feeling was even worse when I saw the Kobold sitting next to the Minotaur, who was eying him carefully as he didn't want to lose any possessions, playing with a coin, flipping it around in between his long, slender fingers. The Dwarf didn't help much either. She came only halfway the Minotaur, it seemed, although this could hardly be the truth.

The four people watched me as I sat down. Everyone was quiet and quite uncomfortable it seemed. I couldn't blame them, for it was the weirdest group I had ever seen. The only one who was making any noise was the Dwarf, who was drinking a pint as she was humming a drinking song.


	3. Chapter II: The Assignment

**Chapter II: The Assignment**

After about five minutes of uncomfortable silence in which I was trying to learn their names by heart, the errant boy came back again. The door opened, smashing into a chair. The boy turned red and excused himself. He then walked to the table, and put down five scrolls. Bardryn thanked the boy and threw him a copper as she grabbed her scroll. Everyone followed her example, except Maragh who refused to get why we would pay him, and read the scroll. It said this:

_Team: DarastrixMembers: 5_

_Leader: BardrynAdventure Count: 0_

_Contractor: Ravensburg Ministry of Safety and Health_

_Briefing: There is a small Goblin warband that has been raiding travellers_

_the past few weeks. We want your adventurers to either talk them into going away_

_or to kill them. We will need proof that the band has been taken care of._

_Reward: 30 gold pieces, 100 silver pieces_

_This assignment has been approved of by Area Cali, Guildmaster of Ravensburg_

As soon as I finished reading, I thought one thing: This assignment is too easy for that amount of money. If it was really worth that amount of money, it would be more than the proclaimed 'small warband'. This was a serious threat. I looked around at the other adventurers. Maragh was grinning. He must've been thinking it was easy money. The others seemed to have mixed feelings about the mission. Slowly everyone was looking around. What now? After a few minutes Bardryn seemed to realize that she was the leader of the team. She cleared her throat, and everyone, but Maragh, looked at her, waiting for an order. When she spoke, I realized no one had really talked much since we sat down. Only now did I truly hear her voice. It was a low voice for a woman, but also soft and appealing. I realised that she would probably be very attractive in Dwarf terms. Her accent was not as thick as that of other Dwarves he had heard. In fact, her common almost seemed like that of a Human.

'It is only early morning. If we hurry this up, we'll be able to drink on our first successful mission in the evening. I think this will be a perfect warm-up mission for the team. Let's meet outside the Guild in five minutes as I bless this mission.' She had grabbed her holy symbol by then, as she nervously waited for the others to reply. Slowly, I lifted myself, and the others followed. The Minotaur had to wait until the others had stood up so he could lift the table to get out. Everybody grabbed his stuff and walked away. It was all still very uncomfortable. While we left the room, we could hear Bardryn start to pray at the table. She was talking in Dwarven, so I could not understand what she was saying, but it sounded powerful.

As soon as I left the room with the other three, Maragh disappeared in the gathered adventures in the main hall. I now stood next to Asteron, who, I now saw, was actually more that two times as tall as I was. He lowered his head as far as he could without having to kneel, and spoke to me. His voice was rough, low, and the common he spoke seemed to mix with a series of growls and grunts, but in his voice I heard a kindness and respect that I had never heard from anyone talking to a Kobold. 'Wizard, I hope I'm not too forward, and I know all about prejudices, but would you mind watching the assassin and warning me about anything out of the ordinary?' I was actually quite surprised that he would trust me so easily, and I was going to watch him closely anyway, so I agreed. Asteron seemed pleased by that, and he patted me on the head, that being the lowest he could reach.

After a while I realised it was stupid that I hadn't actually introduced myself to the others properly, so decided I would introduce myself as soon as I saw them. As I was walking towards the exit to meet with the others, I ran into the Dragonborn. I actually found her quite attractive. She was sort of like a large Kobold, except more Dragon and less Kobold. It was confusing. I guess I'm easily swayed. Anyway, I introduced myself and offered my hand. She shook it. 'I'm Surina, and I am delighted to work with you.' I was pleased to hear her talk in Draconic, as not many actually know the language good enough to speak it fluently. 'I hope our team will become the number one.' She added. I replied that I hoped the same thing, and I led her outside.

There, we met with the other three team members. Bardryn was very open, as she shook my hand and welcomed me to her, she jokingly said, team. Asteron and he bowed to each other as they introduced themselves, but Maragh was another thing. He was absent, and not the least bit interested.

'Now, let us take off.' Bardryn said, and she turned around, waiting for the team to get moving. We were off.


	4. Chapter III: The Meeting

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter III: The Meeting**

Everyone was quiet as we walked towards the exit of the city. It then dawned on me that we didn't know where the Goblins were exactly, so I asked Bardryn what to do about that. She seemed quite confused. 'I hadn't really thought about that I guess.' She replied, and she stopped walking to think. Maragh sighed. 'That's pretty stupid then.' The team looked at him, angrily. He didn't seem to care as he continued. 'While you were praying or whatever, I spend my time finding out more about our mission. It seems that there are five Goblins, lead by one Hobgoblin, who are attacking travellers going towards Iln Cliff. They will first try and take their possessions through intimidation, and if that doesn't work they'll switch to violence. They've been doing that for three weeks now, and they seem to take a break twice a day, although not on regular intervals.' We all looked at him in silent awe. Everybody had assumed that he had just vanished in the Crowd to cut some purses or do something that would amuse him, but nobody had thought of him doing his job so vigorously.

I asked the team what they thought what would be the best action, to talk to them, capture them, or attack them. Everybody was silent for a moment as they thought about it. I told them that I thought the best course of action would be to first negotiate with them, and if that doesn't work to try and subdue them. Asteron nodded. 'I think we should always be ready for a fight for them, even while we negotiate.' Bardryn was reluctant. Dwarves and Goblins didn't go well together, but eventually she agreed. Maragh didn't seem to pay any attention at all, and Surina agreed as well.

So we set off. It took us maybe three hours, of relative silence, before we got close to our goal. By then, it was midday. You could tell something was off. Normally, the route between Ravensburg and Iln Cliff would be busy with merchants and travellers, traffic would be high. Now, there was no-one who used the route. Bardryn decided it would be a good idea to talk about the plan before leaping in.

'Alright, let's do it this way. I'll try and convince them to go somewhere else, but I probably won't be able to handle it myself. Those of you, who find a way to help please do so, but remember that our primary mission is not to kill the bastards but to get rid of them. If we get in a fight, they may prove deadlier than we thought. They do outnumber us.' Everybody, but Maragh, replied that they understood, and so we continued on.

The area was a lush forest with many roads running through them. The part where the Goblins were said to be was a thicker part of the forest. There were many creatures in the forest, although rarely organized.

We kept walking until something came out of the bushes. It was a small Goblin. It looked rather frightened, being surrounded by people almost all taller than he was. The little creature spoke in a high pitched, raspy voice. 'You are surrounded! Give us all your valuables and we will let you live. Refuse and we will kill you all!' It tried to look vicious, but when its eyes met Asteron's, we are send by Ravensburg to negotiate.' The Goblin looked around, surprised by this reaction, obviously not knowing what to do. There was a moment of silence until someone shouted from behind one of the trees. It was a deep and intimidating voice. The Goblin replied with a short, high pitched word, and stepped back. From behind the tree, the Hobgoblin came into view.

'And what does Ravensburg have to offer us?' The Hobgoblin asked, eyeballing the adventurers. The creature didn't look like he was negotiating; its mind was already set on the battle he thought would soon erupt. Bardryn was silent for a moment, and then replied, every word having been carefully considered. 'Ravensburg asks your group to stop the raiding on the travellers and merchants. In return, they will not pursue you.' The Hobgoblin tried to look serious, but failed miserably. It then started to laugh. A few moments later, it finally stopped. 'And why would we possibly be threatened by a city that sends a few errand boys to do the job of persuading us? If they send you to do the job, then I doubt that we should feel threatened in any way.' The small Goblin next to him tried to look tough. Maragh stepped forward, showing a big smile on his face. He bowed for the Hobgoblin. 'But I can assure you, we are just a small portion of nothing short from a skirmish group that is coming to get you. We are just here as civilized people, hoping you will consider leaving before we'll have to… vanquish you.' It was both frustrating and intriguing to see the Kobold work his tricks, for it was a bold move to bluff an armed force coming as backup, but Maragh had done a great job, for I self would've almost believed it. The Hobgoblin's smile quickly faded as he too wondered if the little creature was telling the truth. He looked a bit baffled, even, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. Bardryn quickly followed up with the lie. 'Indeed, and we understand that you just needed to make a living, so we offer you to just pack your camp and go somewhere else.' The Hobgoblin seemed to consider the proposal. It looked up at the adventurers, and nodded. 'Alright, you have made your point. We will pack our stuff and leave. But only if you give us the slave.' Our team looked at each other in surprise, not knowing what he meant, all but Asteron, who charged the laughing Hobgoblin who was pointing at the Minotaur.


	5. Chapter IV: The Team's Effort

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter IV: The Team's Effort**

One of the deadliest mistakes many people make when coming across a Minotaur is assuming that they are slaves or servants of the people he's travelling with. For ages, Minotaurs had indeed been slaves, as they were looked upon as simple minded, yet powerful, creatures that actually understood what you were talking about.

The Hobgoblin stepped back just in time to avoid being hit by the mighty horns of the Minotaur when he tried to pierce the Hob's chest. A short shout came from the Hobgoblin's mouth, a quick order, and suddenly four more Goblins came jumping out of the trees, and the small Goblin who had already been there jumped forward, shortsword drawn.

I've always wondered how long my battles have lasted. It always seemed like hours, but it could never have been more than a few seconds, or maybe a minute or two. Everything always happens so fast, but it all seems to last real long.

As soon as Asteron had charged the Hobgoblin, the Goblin who had already been there was joined by another small Goblin as they were trying to flank and kill the mighty Minotaur, but their little swords weren't able to pierce his scale armour, weren't able to penetrate his big reinforced shield, and they weren't able to pass his skilful parries. Only a few minor cuts managed to draw some blood from the mighty creature. They both didn't have much of a chance, as one of them was immediately scorched by Bardryn, who was calling upon her deity to help them. Her symbol shone in a bright red colour, and as the Goblin who had just been hit by the flames fell dead to the ground, some of Asteron's wounds closed and healed themselves. But the Goblin's place was immediately filled again by another Goblin. This one was slightly larger, and he was more skilled with the blade. Asteron had a hard time deflecting all the attacks, which became even harder when another one of the Goblins attacked him. As busy as he was fighting back all the Goblins, Asteron didn't notice the Hobgoblin bringing a staff down soon enough to deflect the attack. As soon as the staff hit the Minotaur, there was a big cracking sound, like lightning, and the beast's reflexes went down as he seemed dazed by the strike. Filled with fury, Asteron tried to smash the Hobgoblin with all his power, but his attacks were easily dodged by the Hobgoblin.

Surina quickly passed one of the Goblins, drawing her two khopesh, and cut a small Goblin through the neck. The creature fell dead to the ground. I tried to use the situation of distraction to take down the apparent leader, and I invoked a sleep spell upon him. I pulled the spell off, and for a second the Hobgoblin appeared to fall asleep, but I had forgotten all about the legendary resilience these creatures have. Immediately, the creature shook the spell off like it had never been there. Maragh turned out to be a very tactical team player, as he fought one of the Goblins flanking the Minotaur, using wits and skill to position the Goblin away from the dazed warrior.

Bahamut's symbol shone in a bright white light as Bardryn brought her morningstar down on the repositioned Goblin, almost killing the creature instantly. Light poured from the wound on the creature's neck, and it healed the Minotaur, closing all his wounds and reinvigorating him. Everyone was in combat with at least one enemy, and I was the only one away from the big fights. I had no weapons but my magic, so I did not mind them keeping the enemy at bay. It gave me a good view on the enemies, and the Hobgoblin's strange magic.

The creature chimed a spell, and suddenly, Maragh walked around through the battle, without any reason to do so. The spell was compelling him to move, and I could see the mental struggle in Maragh's face. The spell was broken as Asteron recovered from the spell he had been put on, and tried to crush the Hobgoblin's leg. He only just missed, but it was enough to make him concentrate on the battle up close again. Surina was fighting a big goblin in black, and managed to land a solid blow on its chest. Dark red blood came seeping out. I tried to help as well, of course, but the magic balls of force I shot at my enemies kept missing as I had to be careful not to hit my allies.

Magic was flying through the air from all sides, and the sound of metal on metal was eerie in the otherwise silent woods. A sudden setback hit us hard; the Goblins suddenly broke through the defence of Surina en Maragh, and they both had a big bleeding wound in arm and leg. What's worse, the Hobgoblin had once again hit Asteron hard with his numbing magic. The maddened and wounded Minotaur kept swinging around, but his slowed speed and weakened strength proved to be enough for the enemies to dodge. He almost managed to hit one of the Goblins, but it dodged the attack. In doing so, however, the Goblin had not watched its back, and a khopesh pierced its chest as Surina finished him off. The last Goblin still standing was looking around in fear, but there was nothing that he could do. One of my magic attacks finally landed, and the creature fell to the ground, its flesh crushed by the awesome power of force magic.


	6. Chapter V: The Minotaur's Rage

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter V: The Minotaur's Rage**

Immediately everyone turned towards the Hobgoblin. He was the only one left alive. Surina and Maragh ran towards him as Bardryn healed Asteron with Bahamut's help, but he managed to avoid being hit. What's even worse, he had positioned himself so he could unleash his mightiest spell. Only Maragh still stood after a wave of force exploded from the Hobgoblin's staff. He had seen the danger coming and he'd prepared himself. Asteron rose to his feet, enraged, and let go of a horrifying roar. Meanwhile, Surina had nimbly stood up and had started attacking the Hobgoblin with a storm of attacks from her swords, but she didn't manage to land even a single blow. I tried to help myself by using my frost spell to slow him down, but I could not keep him from running away. But as the Hobgoblin turned tail, his fate had already been decided.

Maragh had managed to cut him in his leg, and the Hobgoblin was bleeding heavily. As he turned around to cast another spell, a lance of light pierced his chest, and he screamed out in pain as the lance dissolved. Bardryn had shot the magical spear, and she had hit target. Furthermore, the spell had invigorated Asteron. The Hobgoblin looked at the Minotaur in fear, and tried to cast another spell at him, but the Minotaur simply shrugged the effect away. His eyes were red, and vapour was spraying from its nose. The Minotaur had gone in an all out rage.

Asteron charged the Hobgoblin, and his big hammer hit the Hobgoblin in between the shoulder blades. Dazed, he tried to walk away, but his legs wouldn't work the way he wanted to. I thought I should stop Asteron, but Bardryn held me back. 'You might want to turn away; this is going to be ugly.' And it was indeed ugly. Asteron threw the Hobgoblin to the ground, flinging it on its back. 'Please, have mercy!' the creature screamed in fear, trying to crawl away, but Asteron smashed one of his hooves on the Hobgoblin's ankles so it couldn't go anywhere without dragging the 330 pounds weighing Minotaur with it. A scream of pain and fear erupted from the Hobgoblin, but it was useless.

Afterwards, I wish I had looked away.

Asteron first flung the staff of the Hobgoblin away with his hammer, breaking one of the creature's wrists in doing so. It then continued to stomp the right leg, on which he had been standing, with his hoof, breaking every bone in it. I noticed the other party members looking away, but I just couldn't. After Asteron was done with that leg, he continued on to the other leg. I felt sick watching the Hobgoblin going through that much pain, and I felt like killing the creature just for being in so much pain, but I knew I wouldn't have survived it if I did.

That was still not enough for the enraged Minotaur. It continued crushing every limb, after which the Hobgoblin didn't even scream anymore. It was making a sickening sound of utter agony. Slowly, Asteron was starting to come to his senses. Looking down on his victim, he grabbed his hammer with two hands and brought it down on the Hobgoblin's head. Suddenly, everything was awfully quiet.

Everyone was silent. Asteron hadn't turned around yet, and the other party members were looking at each other as they didn't know what to do. I think maybe half an hour passed without anyone moving or saying anything. A Minotaur's rage is not something a Minotaur is proud of entering. It's the feral, wild, mindless behaviour all the prejudices are about, and by raging they only acknowledge that they are indeed as wild as feared. Asteron was the first to move. He moved away from the body, back towards the others. There Bardryn finally spoke. 'Okay, let's loot the bodies. It may not be the greatest thing to do, but it will be necessary if we want to become successful adventurers. It is the best way to make money and to find magic items. Asteron, you take a break, Surina and Maragh will search the bodies, and we'll let Gash identify anything magical we may come across.

It took a while before we started to move. Asteron moved away from the rest of the team, and I waited until anything magical would be given to me. Unfortunately, they had nothing of that kind on them. They had made some good money, though, and we collected a total of about 200 silver pieces and a big jade.

Once that was done, we buried the bodies, and took the leader's staff with us a proof that we had slain them. We left for the city, and everyone was quiet. We had done our job, but something told me we weren't going to celebrate it around the table with a pint in our hands.

After we collected the bounty we each went a different way. I later heard that Bardryn had drunk in the tavern, Maragh had been learning new coin tricks and Surina had been cleaning her weapon. I myself had been studying my magic and my rituals again, and I wrote in my journal.

I never learned what Asteron did that night.


	7. Chapter VI: The Routine

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter VI: The Routine**

We never talked much about the first mission. Nobody felt good about what happened, and we all knew that the awkwardness of that day would stay with us always.

So what else could we do than move on? We took our second mission, third, fourth, eleventh mission, and everything was fine. Now, however, our team had climbed a rank. And for good reason too. We had all been honing our skills, and I even learned some new spells relatively quickly. Everybody improved, and our missions were going well. We never had an experience like the first mission again, and I don't specifically mean Asteron's frenzy.

The job had become a routine. We found our target, tried to negotiate, and if they would not listen, which happened surprisingly often, we'd force them to do what we asked them to. This often led to combat in which we had no choice but to kill the enemies, but it didn't bother us anymore. Even the looting had become a simple routine, in which Asteron stood guard, Surina and Maragh searched the corpses, I identified magic items and Bardryn watched over us. Jokes were made about the dead and the fight, and more and more often we caught ourselves talking about the battles like it was an epic story instead of killing.

Even though it was not humane to do all of this, it was also a prerequisite for surviving this job. Those who still cared about their actions after eleven missions were going to be having some serious psychic problems.

We soon got ourselves some horses, so we could get more missions done in a short amount of time. When we'd get close to our target, we'd tie our horses to the surrounding and I'd cast several rituals to conceal them.

Then came our twelfth mission. Our rise in rank also meant rise in danger in the missions, and this danger often formed itself in lack of information and knowledge.

_Team: Darastrix__/Members: 5_

_Leader: BardrynAdventure Count: 11_

_Contractor: Ravensburg Ministry of Agriculture and Cattle_

_Briefing: Cattle has been disappearing from farmer Jones' meadow at night,_

_and there is as of yet no clue to what's causing these deaths. The only things_

_found are the bones and leftover meat of the cattle. It seems a predator is killing_

_the creatures, but there have not been recent sightings of animals large enough to_

_kill them. Find out what's causing the deaths of the cattle and report back to the _

_ministry as soon as you've taken care of the problem._

_Reward: 60 gold pieces, 300 silver pieces_

_This assignment has been approved of by Area Cali, Guildmaster of Ravensburg_

This is generally a really bad mission to be assigned to. You don't now what you're facing and it involves the deaths of large creatures. We'd been on missions like this before which almost got us killed. However, our rise in rank had also given us a rise in ego. We could handle anything, just follow the plan, right?

After we received the mission scroll, we needed to come up with a plan, so we sat down at the tavern to talk about it. Bardryn always liked a good pint when working, and it did help her concentrate for some reason.

'Since we don't know what we're dealing with, I want us to keep watch tonight. We'll go to Jones' farm and stay there, concealed. Your rituals can help with that, Ghrak, so take your components with you. We will stay there all evening and watch the cattle. If anything comes out, we identify, negotiate, then fight.' We drank our beverages while nodding; it's the team's basic plan, and this was just another mission wasn't it? Bardryn turned to Maragh. 'I want you to get us information on this. Find out what people know so we can be prepared. I'll create some tanglefoot bags just to make sure.' We all nodded again, and Bardryn lifted her pint. 'To Darastrix!' We raised our pints, replying. 'To Darastrix!'

So that day Maragh tried to find out as much as possible about the case, Bardryn went home to make some tanglefoot bags, and the rest of us prepared ourselves for the evening. I started memorizing my spells, while Surina and Asteron prepared their weapons and armour. We had no idea what was going to happen.


	8. Chapter VII: The Children

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter VII: The Children**

Maragh had not much to say. The only thing people had seen were large bird of prey, but those would never have been big or strong enough to eat the cattle. We were now hiding in the big barn of farmer Jones, and my rituals had been cast. Indeed did we see the birds of prey as well as they were circling above the field. There were two of them, constantly circling in silence.

We waited for several hours, and the night grew darker and darker. We had lit a small contained fire in the barn on which I had cast another ritual. Now we would be warm and well lit without being discovered by enemies. But the field and the woods next to it were still as dark as ink.

There was nothing we could do but wait, so I wrote in my journal about the last few days. Hours passed without anything happening, and I was starting to wonder if we'd have to stay awake the next night as well, when suddenly Surina rose her hand. Everybody looked down the field, but there was nothing there. Surina whispered that we were looking the wrong way, and she pointed to the sky.

There, the birds of prey seemed to grow every second as they were coming down. It seemed everybody misjudged he distance these creatures were flying at as they came closer and closer. By the time they came close to the barn, still circling around, we could see that they must've been about 15 feet in total length, and the mighty wings of the creature were widespread, and over 25 feet in width. The bellies of the creatures were an off white colour, and the rest of the scales were gray, which caused it to look way smaller from a distance at night. That must've been one of the reasons the two creatures had looked like bird of prey; you could only clearly see the bellies.

We all watched in awe as the two creatures flew over the cattle, looking for a good target. Bardryn looked around. This was not something she had expected. 'What do we do now? I don't think we can negotiate with these vile creatures, now can we?' We were silent as we tried to think of something. It seemed there was no way out of this one. We had to fight them. 'Does anybody know anything about these creatures?' Bardryn asked. The Minotaur replied first. 'This is a Gray Dragon Wyrmling. Their parents leave their eggs near previous hunting grounds. The Wyrmlings who hatch often work together to hunt. These are vicious creatures. We have to be careful.' Then everybody was silent. 'We have to get down there, they are closing for the kill.' Surina said, and she was right. The Wyrmlings were circling around a large cow, herding it to a solitary spot on the field. 'We'll never make it in time!' Asteron said as he began to run down.

'Darastrii!' Surina shouted down at the Dragons, and they immediately looked around. The rituals made it hard for them to find out where the sounds were coming from. We all sprinted down the barn towards the big doors as Surina kept shouting at the confused Dragons. 'Darastrix! Nurh malsvir irlym!' She was calling them names, distracting them, but she'd have to hurry to get down and help us, or we'd be in big trouble.

Asteron opened the door with his shoulder, shield and weapon ready. Behind him were the rest of us, except Surina. She was running down the stairs to get to us.

The Dragons looked both surprised, eager and startled by the sudden visitors. They hesitated and stepped back, but they had reached the end of the field. We stood there, unsure what to do. Then the two Grays suddenly ran towards us, and jumped up, taking to the sky. Hindsight, they were just trying to flee and live, and we were cowards striking down frightened children, but in our minds lay only one thought; we must be careful not to get killed, cause all chromatic dragons are vicious, evil, deadly creatures.

The creatures tried to fly past us and gain height, but Asteron ran forward and brought his weapon down on one of them, hitting it on the head and bringing it back to the ground. I quickly cast a sleep spell on the other dragon, and the creature slowed down and fell back to the ground. It shook off the effect, and turned itself towards the Minotaur, just like the other Dragon. Both creatures opened their mouths wide and let spit out a large amount of acid, but the Minotaur guarded himself and dodged the attack.

Quickly, Maragh ran forward, sliding through the shadows, unseen, and thrust his shortsword up the chest of the dazed Dragon. The weapon almost bounced off of the scales and hide, but it left a great bleeding gap across its chest.

A great picture of a golden dragon rose from Bardryn, enfolding us all in a golden shimmer as we were protected from harm, while Surina charged the bleeding Dragon, avoiding the panicking cattle, attacking the child.


	9. Chapter VIII: The Birds of Prey

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter VIII: The Birds of Prey**

We only did what we thought was best at the time, and none could blame us. As soon as we started attacking the two Dragons, something snapped within them, and they attacked, and could blame them. They were just defending themselves when they were being hunted because they needed food.

Surina opened up the wound Maragh had done even wider when she jammed her two swords in it, ripping the hide apart. The creature screamed in pain and it was swearing in Draconic, black blood seeping out of the wound.

Asteron was defending himself against the two attackers and thus had little time to find an opening to strike. We used this to our advantage, though, cause it worked reverse for us. I quickly found an opening when the Dragons raised their claws to attack Asteron, and I shot my magic at the injured Dragon. The Dragons were focussing completely on Asteron, who couldn't manage to avoid being hit. One of the Dragons claws cut him, and he started to bleed from the intoxicated wound. The wounded Dragon opened its mouth and more acid sprout out of its mouth, but this time, it almost hit Surina and Asteron. Maragh got hit, and although it was nothing but a slight brush of the acid, it burned and stuck to him.

Maragh quickly tumbled past the wounded dragon, stabbing it between its scales in the back. It turned around to attack the Rogue, but that cost it its life. One of Surina's swords pierced the creature's neck, and it fell to the ground, writhing, twitching.

Soothing magic flowed from Bardryn as she was praying to her god. It helped us, and it frightened the now lonely Dragon. I used my magic to move at tremendous speed, and once I had a good position, I shot a rolling carpet of fire down the field, over the Dragon. It didn't react fast enough to avoid being hit. The frenzied creature was hacking away at Asteron, and Maragh drove his sword into its back as well. The Dragon didn't pay much attention to it though, but then a lance of light hit it, burning it and raising Asteron's spirit.

The Dragon was just in time to avoid having its head chopped off by Surina, but as it ducked to avoid the swords, a big hammer hit it in the head. Sparks flew from the hammer as it landed a perfect blow, and the Dragon seemed dull and dazed from the sheer power of the blow. It was now an easy target for my magic, but as I hit the creature, it turned around and its acid bomb shot at us again. Surina and Asteron managed to jump aside, but I got a full blow. I got knocked back by the attack, but fortunately I was saved from harm by a magical brooch that I was carrying.

That was the last thing the Dragon would do. Maragh yelled at it in Draconic, and it turned around. Immediately, the rogue's sword pierced the Dragon's lower jaw, cutting it in two. The creature cried out in excruciating pain, but the head was soon quiet as it was chopped of by Surina's killer blades.

Everybody was quiet. You could hear the Dragon's acid burn on the grass. The cattle was running towards the barn in fear, and before us lay two dead Dragons.

We had solved the mystery, and we had dealt with it. The cattle was safe.

'Great job everyone!' Bardryn said proudly. She let go of her holy symbol, and the glow that was on the medallion faded away. 'We have killed our first Dragons, aggressive ones as well! Now, these were just Wyrmlings so they probably don't have much or any valuables, so I say we inform Jones and call it a day. We'll report back to the ministry tomorrow. Take the heads with us, we'll show them to prove our success.' Surina nodded, walked over to the dead dragon which was still intact, and cut its head clean off.

Everybody was smiling and laughing while we were mutilating those children. After we cut of the heads, we decided that we'd carry one of the nails on their claws with us, and so we cut of five toes, which we'd later clean. I borrowed a vial from Bardryn's alchemy set and drained the dragon's blood for research, and Surina took the wings off so she could make it into a trophy hide armour.

We burned what was left of the corpses with Bahamut's sacred fire, and the area smelled of burning flesh, and the black flames that were coming from the bodies were filled with blobs of acid which caught on fire. As I watched the corpses burn and hear them talking about the victory, something dawned on me.

We were going to become Dragonhunters, and it was the most exiting thing I'd ever felt.


	10. Chapter IX: The Honouring

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter IX: The Honouring**

A year passed since the forming of our group. Our mission count was at 24, which was pretty good for a five-man adventuring group. We weren't cheap.

Our other missions had mostly consisted of resolving problems with Goblins and Hobgoblins in the surrounding forests. It wasn't half as dangerous out in the forest as it had been last year, as the now five major groups of the guild had taken care of most problems.

But lately that had become problematic. We didn't get an assignment in two weeks, and there was nothing much we could do ourselves.

But that didn't mean nothing happened. We again rose in rank in the guild. We were amongst the top three parties, and we were well known for our efficiency and speed.

To honour the rise in rank of us and two of the other groups, as well as to honour Area Cali, we were to come to the guild at late afternoon with our groups, and the three groups would challenge each other in non-combat games to determine who was the best, flashiest group. We were all looking forward to some innocent entertainment, and so we prepared ourselves for the competition.

The day came, and our group met beforehand to drink on our success and to bless the competition and team. It was one of the best times I had with the party, as we were all laughing and joking, recalling battles and blunders. Everything was mentioned, everything but Asteron's rage. We never mentioned it, and we never would. Asteron had changed after that moment. He did not give in to emotions that easily anymore.

We had all changed for that matter. Bardryn was now a confident leader, and Surina was more open than she had been before. I was more confident as well, throwing in tactics and ideas. Maragh hadn't really changed, but we'd all changed our point of view on Maragh. Although he was heartless in combat and he enjoyed it a tad too much, he was a reliable party member and when you asked him something, he'd get the job done, although he wouldn't tell you he would. He still didn't care much what people thought.

We finished our beers, grabbed our stuff and went off towards the Guild. There was a huge party tent outside the building, and many people had gathered. It proved to be a big event.

First, Area Cali spoke, talking about the missions, the people and the groups, but also about the guild itself, how the new system was working so well, and that the forests had finally calmed down. His speech was constantly interrupted by applause, laughing, and shouting, as the crowd was loving it all.

Then the Guildmaster explained what he had planned for the evening. The three teams were to compete in five different competitions, in which each time, another member would compete against the other. Between every match, there would be time for music and dancing, and the party wouldn't end until the next morning.

And so the party began, with Maragh competing with the other coverts in a competition of stealth, pick pocketing and destroying and avoiding traps. It was really amazing to see the Kobold jump through the obstacles, disappear in every shadow only to pop up at the next challenge, and complete the track before the Dwarf and Halfling of the other teams were even halfway there. A wild applause rose from the crowd as Maragh started the obstacle course of the Dwarf, passing him, and finishing the track before his opponent did.

There were a few minutes of drinking, singing, dancing and fooling around while the stage was reset for the next competitors; the party leaders. They were to tell a story to the crowd, telling about the party's splendour, then to give a motivational speech, and than to show their leadership skills. Bardryn's opponents were a Gnome bard and a Elf Warlord.

Bardryn told a good story in the first round, but the Gnome was just way better at telling epic stories of grandeur. In the second round, the Elf beat all the others in a speech in which he almost pushed everybody to undress. With laughter and applauding, the next round was started. The Gnome could only show minor magic, and the crowd was not all that impressed. The Elf gathered some strangers and in a few seconds he got them to cooperate in a difficult acrobatic act, showing his skill in guiding his allies. But the crowd was blown away by Bardryn though.

And everyone was silently watching her, everyone except the Bard, who even helped her with his lute.


	11. Chapter X: The Guests

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter X: The Guests**

Bardryn began to sing a song about Bahamut, hiding in it a powerful prayer. As the people were listening to the Dwarven song, everybody started to light up by her enhancing magic, and everybody felt comforted and happy. In the end, though, Area decided the competition was a tie, and the three leaders shook hands, complementing each other on their skills.

Again there was dancing, music, food and drinks. I did not drink, for to use my magic properly, I have to be completely sober and concentrated. I was going to go up against a Human Wizard and a Tiefling who used divine magic to manipulate his surroundings.

The competition started off pretty well, as we had to manipulate a group of enhanced cattle. We could not harm them with our magic if we were careful, but we could use the magic effects to steer them, and that was our objective. The Tiefling had had a drink or two, and wasn't as careful. He injured one of his subjects, and was disqualified to stop him from injuring more livestock.

The Human was very talented, and he was winning the round, but he was nervous and fully concentrated on his cattle, so I used my magic to close the pen he was supposed to drive his cattle in, and I used a frost spell to freeze the hinges into place. He didn't notice it as he thought I was attacking his cattle to slow his progress down, and after that it was an easy victory.

There is still very little I find more pleasing than a full crowd applauding for you, whistling, screaming, stomping. The feeling of appreciation is one of the most powerful influential emotions.

Now I could finally drink some more, so I ordered a beer and sat down with my teammates. They congratulated me, as I had essentially given us first place in this competition. The only way we could lose was if we lost both coming competitions to the same team, and even if that happened we'd still be shared first.

We sang, drank a bit, and danced. I found a goofy Gnome who was up for some fun and we danced on the dance floor for a while. I had never felt so attracted to a Gnome.

Next up was the test of endurance as the two Guardians were up against each other. Everybody laughed as Asteron took up his spot beside the other two Guardians, and they were not to blame. The one team's Guardian was an Elf who was as thin as Asteron's upper arm, and the other team had a Dwarf competing for them, who was thicker than Asteron's upper arm, but also was about half the size of the Minotaur. They had all put away their weapons, armour and shields.

Behind each of them was a row of five carts, and the objective was to bring the filled carts from one side to the other side of a track, including a slope, mud, and a slick surface conjured by the guild's wizards.

It soon became clear who would win. As the teams were given a go to start, the Elf speared away with a cart behind him. Looking back why the others were so slow, he saw that both Asteron as the Dwarf were carrying two carts behind them instead of one. The two strong creatures bulged their muscles as they made speed to go up the slope. The Dwarf had a very steady footing, but Asteron was faster, bending over, horns forward, charging up the hill like he'd usually charge. The Elf figured he couldn't win and stopped under loud yelling and screaming from the crowd.

In the end, Asteron was the quickest. The Dwarf had the lead on most of the track, but as soon as they went downhill, Asteron gained on him. The warriors bowed to each other and clasped hands, panting and sweating. The Dwarf then hopped off to go make fun of the Elf, why Asteron went up to the bar to get a drink.

There was an extended break as 180 straw men were erected from the ground for the final competition. The people were looking at it in amusement as they could already see the straw man slaughter that would take place.

And indeed, they proved to be right, for it was the goal for each of the Backups to bring down 60 straw men, by any means possible. They all inspected their weapons once more. Surina had the obvious advantage against the Paladin and Warlock, and we were already laughing at the major victory we'd get.

But when the competitors started, Surina just stood there, looking away from the straw men towards the city. And suddenly cries and shouts erupted. I turned around, and I was shocked at what I saw. The city was burning.


	12. Chapter XI: The Raiders

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or their d20 system. I did not make money writing this story. DnD and all its supplements are owned by Wizards of the Coast. Do visit their site for this epic awesome game.

**Chapter XI: The Raid**

Nothing had showed that this was going to happen. Most of us were too tired or drunk to defend ourselves. They must've known what was going on in Ravensburg, for they were not a force we couldn't have handled if we were sober.

Hundreds of Goblins and Hobgoblins were pouring through the streets as the Guild was doing what they could to fight back. The militia quickly gathered, arming themselves, but this night they were weak men.

Our team hurried forward as we sought the commander of the raiding group, but there seemed to be no orders given to the hundreds of enemies. They were well prepared, they knew what to do; they were not going to give away their weakness, their leader, their heart.

It only took an hour for half the city to burn, and many people were already dead. Civilians who had stayed at home were run down. We still hadn't found the mind behind this invasion, and fighting the hordes of enemies back was tiring and very difficult. Soon, I had used all but my most basic spells, and we were all covered in wounds and soaked in blood both ours and the enemy's.

We were doing our best fighting the enemies back, but we were slowly being pushed back. 'We have to retreat!' Bardryn yelled. We turned tail and fled, but for many it had already been too late.

The fighting was as good as over; there was no way we could've won this battle. Everywhere I looked, I saw people running for their lives. Many were run down by the Goblins. We passed bodies of people we knew, loved, for who we had worked, and those we had worked with. There were almost no Guild members alive as far as we could tell; we had already passed most of them as they were lying on the ground, dead.

I didn't think we would make it as the Goblins were running after us, striking anyone down who they passed, and I was close to turning around and taking some of the bastards down with me. Instead I kept running for my life as we all sought ways to lose the chasing army. Suddenly, Surina howled in pain as an arrow hit her in the leg. She almost fell, but she pulled the arrow out of her leg as she regained her balance.

We turned around a corner, and we were surprised by what we saw. The Goblins were all retreating, and we noticed that the Goblins who had been behind us were also running away from us. Then I noticed that the growling that I thought came from the flames, was actually coming from the skies. As we looked up we saw something that looked like a big bird of prey circling through the sky. We now finally knew who their leader was; a Dragon.

We helped put out the fires and heal the wounded, and we did the best we could. But in the end we lost half our city, and our fellow Guild members were dead. There were only a few still alive. We gathered the bodies and sorted out the Guild members who were still recognisable. Among them was the Gnome I had been dancing with, and it saddened me. We also found the Guild Leader there, Area Cali. He was hardly recognisable, being covered in wounds and blood, and his clothing and skin seemed to have melted.

We later heard that the Dragon had appeared about halfway through the battle, walking through the streets in relative silence. It had slain anything in its path, among which half the Guild. He had been seeking Cali, so he could challenge him to a duel.

Seeing his city and Guild fall apart Cali felt like he had no choice but to accept. The combat had been brutal but short, as Cali was no match for the Dragon. The beast played with him before finishing him off, and after he had done this he had flown away, sounding the retreat.

Immediately everybody capable of digging started burying their loved ones and dead. We buried them all in the Guild's garden and courtyard, since there was no Guild left.

We didn't say a thing as we buried our friends, but we didn't need to. We all knew what the others were thinking. We were the only ones left to defend this city. We were the only ones left to find out what actually caused this massive attack from the Dragon, and more importantly why it'd left. We knew that we'd have to leave the city for a while to research our mission and find out more about the Dragon we'd be hunting.

We knew that we were the only ones left to avenge our friends.


End file.
